Argentina was among six countries to sign anti-discrimination conventions by the Organization of American States.

The nations signed the Inter-American Convention against All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance and the Inter-American Convention Against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Forms of Intolerance on Saturday at the OAS General Assembly in the Guatemalan city of Antigua.

The conventions establish obligations for member states to develop policies and legislation that prevent, prohibit and punish acts of discrimination, including anti-Semitism.

Antigua and Barbuda, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Uruguay also signed the document.

“This is a great day for those who hope to live in a world where discrimination and intolerance are pushed to the fringes of society and no longer tolerated,” Allan Jacobs, the president of B’nai B’rith International, said in a statement. “B’nai B’rith has diligently worked for many years for the passage of these conventions. It’s a proud day for us and the Organization of American States.” ...more.

Samantha Power brings to foreign policy an activist impulse that many in the pro-Israel community wish was more prevalent among American diplomats.

Except Power, a former White House national security council staffer nominated this week by President Obama to represent the United States at the United Nations, has at times directed her interventionist inclinations at Israel.

A former journalist and Harvard-educated lawyer known for her work on human rights and genocide, Power presents a rare and polarizing dilemma for the pro-Israel community: Enthusiastically embrace her proclivity for tough U.S. intervention and hope it never manifests in her dealings with Israel? Or block her?

Notably, two groups that maintain a regular U.N. presence, the American Jewish Committee and B’nai B’rith International, had no comment. B’nai B’rith’s said it was withholding approval of Power’s nomination until she addressed her earlier remarks under oath during Senate confirmation hearings.

“Israel has few real friends at the United Nations and at the top of the list is the United States, and it is really incumbent on the representative to be prepared, willing and able to rebuff and repel that kind of language,” said the group’s executive vice president, Daniel Mariaschin...more.

Montgomery County students penned eight of the 10 books that are finalists in the Diverse Minds Youth Writing Challenge, a contest in which high school students write and illustrate children’s books about tolerance and diversity.

The initiative was created in conjunction with B’nai B’rith programs that promote tolerance and communicate a message of equality.

The winning author, or authors in the case of joint projects, will be announced at a ceremony Thursday. The first-place winner receives a $5,000 college scholarship and will have his book professionally published and distributed to local schools and libraries. The winning book also will be published online, available for free download.

The second-place winner receives a $2,000 scholarship, and the third-place winner earns a $1,000 scholarship. In addition, the teacher who oversaw the creation of the first-place submission will receive a $500 stipend to use for classroom or organizational materials and the school will win a $500 grant...more.

About a dozen years ago, Frank Lautenberg, then the senior U.S. senator from New Jersey, was invited to serve as keynote speaker at a naturalization ceremony for new citizens that New Jersey’s Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest was hosting.

The invitation was more than a standard offer to a political leader.

The senator, who had authored an amendment to congressional legislation, the so-called Lautenberg Amendment, which helped open the doors of the former Soviet Union, got to see the fruit of his works — some 300 new Americans, most of them Jewish, who had benefited from his work. And they got to thank him.

“Without him, they would not have been there,” said Max Kleinman, executive vice president of the MetroWest federation.

Sen. Lautenberg’s legacy was praised this week across the religious and political spectrum. “A dear friend of the Jewish community,” said a B’nai B’rith International statement...more.

Longtime New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg, who died Monday at 89 from complications from viral pneumonia, was praised and remembered fondly by Jewish groups for his support of Israel and long record of public service.

B’nai B’rith International praised Lautenberg’s patriotism and concern for Jews across the world.

“Lautenberg was a World War II veteran and a dear friend of the Jewish community. As a senator from New Jersey for more than 28 years, he was a staunch supporter of Israel, a champion of free emigration for Soviet and Iranian Jews, and a booster of the rights of Jewish refugees from the Middle East,” B’nai B’rith said...more.